arXiv subjects

S. -H. Lee

Publications and source records attributed to S. -H. Lee.

159 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

arXiv2002

Enhancement of long-range magnetic order by magnetic field in superconducting La2CuO(4+y)

We report a detailed study, using neutron scattering, transport and magnetization measurements, of the interplay between superconducting (SC) and spin density wave (SDW) order in La2CuO(4+y). Both kinds of order set in below the same critical temperature. However, the SDW order grows with applied magnetic field, whereas SC order is suppressed. Most importantly, the field dependence of the SDW Bragg peak intensity has a cusp at zero field, as predicted by a recent theory of competing SDW and SC order. This leads us to conclude that there is a repulsive coupling between the two order parameters. The question of whether the two kinds of order coexist or microscopically phase separate is discussed.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Doping evolution of the phonon density of states and electron-lattice interaction in Nd$_{2-x}$Ce$_x$CuO$_{4+δ}$

We use inelastic neutron scattering to study the evolution of the generalized phonon density of states (GDOS) of the $n$-type high-$T_c$ superconductor Nd$_{2-x}$Ce$_x$CuO$_{4+δ}$ (NCCO), from the half-filled Mott-insulator ($x=0$) to the $T_c=24$ K superconductor ($x=0.15$). Upon doping the CuO$_2$ planes in Nd$_2$CuO$_{4+δ}$ (NCO) with electrons by Ce substitution, the most significant change in the GDOS is the softening of the highest phonon branches associated with the Cu-O bond stretching and out-of-plane oxygen vibration modes. However, the softening occurs within the first few percent of Ce-doping and is not related to the electron doping induced nonsuperconducting-superconducting transition (NST) at $x\approx 0.12$. These results suggest that the electron-lattice coupling in the $n$-type high-$T_c$ superconductors is different from that in the $p$-type materials.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Magnetic Order in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+x}$ Superconductors

Polarized and unpolarized neutron diffraction has been used to search for magnetic order in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+x}$ superconductors. Most of the measurements were made on a high quality crystal of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.6}$. It is shown that this crystal has highly ordered ortho-II chain order, and a sharp superconducting transition. Inelastic scattering measurements display a very clean spin-gap and pseudogap with any intensity at 10 meV being 50 times smaller than the resonance intensity. The crystal shows a complicated magnetic order that appears to have three components. A magnetic phase is found at high temperatures that seems to stem from an impurity with a moment that is in the $a$-$b$ plane, but disordered on the crystal lattice. A second ordering occurs near the pseudogap temperature that has a shorter correlation length than the high temperature phase and a moment direction that is at least partly along the c-axis of the crystal. Its moment direction, temperature dependence, and Bragg intensities suggest that it may stem from orbital ordering of the $d$-density wave (DDW) type. An additional intensity increase occurs below the superconducting transition. The magnetic intensity in these phases does not change noticeably in a 7 Tesla magnetic field aligned approximately along the c-axis. Searches for magnetic order in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7}$ show no signal while a small magnetic intensity is found in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.45}$ that is consistent with c-axis directed magnetic order. The results are contrasted with other recent neutron measurements.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Freezing of a Stripe Liquid

The existence of a stripe-liquid phase in a layered nickelate, La(1.725)Sr(0.275)NiO(4), is demonstrated through neutron scattering measurements. We show that incommensurate magnetic fluctuations evolve continuously through the charge-ordering temperature, although an abrupt decrease in the effective damping energy is observed on cooling through the transition. The energy and momentum dependence of the magnetic scattering are parametrized with a damped-harmonic-oscillator model describing overdamped spin-waves in the antiferromagnetic domains defined instantaneously by charge stripes.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Diagonal static spin correlation in the low temperature orthorhombic Pccn phase of La1.55Nd0.4Sr0.05CuO4

Elastic neutron scattering measurements have been performed on Nd, Sr co-doped La1.55Nd0.4Sr0.05CuO4, which exhibits a structural phase transition at Ts ~ 60K from the low temperature orthorhombic Bmab phase (labelled LTO1) to the low temperature orthorhombic Pccn phase (labelled LTO2). At low temperatures, well below Ts, elastic magnetic peaks are observed at the ``diagonal'' incommensurate (IC) positions (0, 1+/-0.055, 0), with modulation direction only along the orthorhombic b-axis just as in Nd-free La1.95Sr0.05CuO4. In the present study, the one-dimensionality of the IC modulation, which is naturally explained by a stripe model, is clearly demonstrated with our "single-domain" crystal. The temperature dependence of the IC peak intensity suggests a substantial contribution from the Nd3+ spins below ~3K. Consistent with this, the L dependence of the magnetic scattering is accurately accounted for by a model in which the contribution of the Nd3+ spins is explicitly included.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Spin dynamics in the $S=1/2$ weakly-coupled chains antiferromagnet BaCu$_2$Si$_2$O$_7$

Inelastic neutron scattering is used to identify single-particle and continuum spin excitations in the quasi-one-dimensional $S=1/2$ antiferromagnet \ba. In the data analysis, close attention is given to resolution effects. A gap in the continuum spectrum at $Δ_c=4.74.8$ meV is directly observed. The gap energy is in excellent agreement with existing theoretical predictions. Below the gap, the spectrum is dominated by sharp accoustic spin wave excitations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Spin fluctuations in a magnetically frustrated metal, LiV2O4

Inelastic neutron scattering is used to characterize spin fluctuations in the $d$-electron heavy fermion spinel $\rm LiV_2O_4$. The spin relaxation rate, $Γ_Q$, for $Q=0.6$ Å$^{-1}$ is 1.5(1) meV at low temperatures and increases linearly with temperature at a rate of 0.41(4) k$_B$. There is antiferromagnetic short range order at low temperatures with a characteristic wave vector $Q_c= 0.64(2)$ Å$^{-1}$ and a correlation length of 6(1) Å. Warming shifts intensity towards lower $Q$ so that magnetic scattering decreases monotonically with $Q>0.3$ Å$^{-1}$ for $T>40$ K. The data are compared with conventional heavy fermion systems, geometrically frustrated insulating magnets, and recent theories for $\rm LiV_2O_4$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Continuum in the spin excitation spectrum of a Haldane chain, observed by neutron scattering in CsNiCl3

The spin excitation continuum, expected to dominate the low-energy fluctuation spectrum in the Haldane spin chain around the Brillouin zone center, q=0, is directly observed by inelastic magnetic neutron scattering in the S=1 quasi-1D antiferromagnet CsNiCl3. We find that the single mode approximation fails, and that a finite energy width appears in the dynamic correlation function S(q,omega) for q < 0.5pi. The width increases with decreasing q, while S(q,omega) acquires an asymmetric shape qualitatively similar to that predicted for the 2-magnon continuum in the nonlinear sigma-model.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Local Magnetic Order vs. Superconductivity in a Layered Cuprate

We report on the phase diagram for charge-stripe order in La(1.6-x)Nd(0.4)Sr(x)CuO(4), determined by neutron and x-ray scattering studies and resistivity measurements. From an analysis of the in-plane resistivity motivated by recent nuclear-quadrupole-resonance studies, we conclude that the transition temperature for local charge ordering decreases monotonically with x, and hence that local antiferromagnetic order is uniquely correlated with the anomalous depression of superconductivity at x = 1/8. This result is consistent with theories in which superconductivity depends on the existence of charge-stripe correlations.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2000

Charge and Spin Order in La2-xSrxNiO4 (x=0.275 and 1/3)

We report polarized and unpolarized neutron diffraction measurements on La2-xSrxNiO4 (x=0.275 and 1/3). The data for the spin ordered states are consistent with a collinear spin model in which spins with S=1 are in the NiO2 plane and are uniformly rotated from the charge and spin stripe direction. The deviation angle is larger for x=1/3 than for x=0.275. Furthermore, for x=1/3, the ordered spins reorient below 50 K, which suggests a further lock-in of the doped holes and their magnetic interactions with the S=1 spins.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Local spin resonance and spin-Peierls-like phase transition in a geometrically frustrated antiferromagnet

Using inelastic magnetic neutron scattering we have discovered a localized spin resonance at 4.5 meV in the ordered phase of the geometrically frustrated cubic antiferromagnet $\rm ZnCr_2O_4$. The resonance develops abruptly from quantum critical fluctuations upon cooling through a first order transition to a co-planar antiferromagnet at $T_c=12.5(5)$ K. We argue that this transition is a three dimensional analogue of the spin-Peierls transition.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Magnetic excitations in coupled Haldane spin chains near the quantum critical point

Two quasi-1-dimensional S=1 quantum antiferromagnetic materials, PbNi2V2O8 and SrNi2V2O8, are studied by inelastic neutron scattering on powder samples. While magnetic interactions in the two systems are found to be very similar, subtle differences in inter-chain interaction strengths and magnetic anisotropy are detected. The latter are shown to be responsible for qualitatively different ground state properties: magnetic long-range order in SrNi2V2O8 and disordered ``spin liquid'' Haldane-gap state in PbNi2V2O8.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Freezing of anisotropic spin clusters in La1.98Sr0.02CuO4

A spin-glass compound, La$_{1.98}$Sr$_{0.02}$CuO$_4$, shows quasi-three-dimensional magnetic ordering below $\sim$40 K. A remarkable feature is that the magnetic correlation length along the orthorhombic $a\rm_{ortho}$ axis is much longer than that along the $b\rm_{ortho}$ axis, suggesting that the spin structure is closely related to the diagonal stripe structure. The spin-glass state can be expressed as a random freezing of quasi-three-dimensional spin clusters with anisotropic spin correlations ($ξ'_a\sim160$ Å, $ξ'_b\sim25$ Å, and $ξ'_c\sim4.7$ Åat 1.6 K). The new magnetic state is important as an intermediate phase between the three-dimensional antiferromagnetic ordered phase in La$_2$CuO$_4$ and the incommensurate phase in La$_{1.95}$Sr$_{0.05}$CuO$_4$ in which the positions of the incommensurate peaks are rotated by 45$^\circ$ in reciprocal space about ($π$,$π$) from those observed in the superconducting La$_2$CuO$_4$ compounds.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1997

Melting of Quasi-Two-Dimensional Charge Stripes in La5/3Sr1/3NiO4

Commensurability effects for nickelates have been studied by the first neutron experiments on La5/3Sr1/3NiO4. Upon cooling, this system undergoes three successive phase transitions associated with quasi-two-dimensional (2D) commensurate charge and spin stripe ordering in the NiO$_2$ planes. The two lower temperature phases (denoted as phase II and III) are stripe lattice states with quasi-long-range in-plane charge correlation. When the lattice of 2D charge stripes melts, it goes through an intermediate glass state (phase I) before becoming a disordered liquid state. This glass state shows short-range charge order without spin order, and may be called a "stripe glass" which resembles the hexatic/nematic state in 2D melting.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1997

Less than 50% sublattice polarization in an insulating S=3/2 kagome' antiferromagnet at low T

We have found weak long range antiferromagnetic order in the quasi-two-dimensional insulating oxide $ KCr_3(OD)_6(SO_4)_2$ which contains Cr$^{3+}$ S=3/2 ions on a kagomé lattice. In a sample with $\approx$ 76% occupancy of the chromium sites the ordered moment is 1.1(3)$μ_B$ per chromium ion which is only one third of the Néel value $gμ_BS=3μ_B$. The magnetic unit cell equals the chemical unit cell, a situation which is favored by inter-plane interactions. Gapless quantum spin-fluctuations ($Δ/k_B <0.25$K) with a bandwidth of 60K >> $T_N$ = 1.6K are the dominant contribution to the spin correlation function, $S(Q,ω)$ in the ordered phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗